Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Fertility Symbols In Rock Art: Cupuls And Incised Grooves In The Lower Pecos, Texas, Cara D. Connolly

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Rock art at archaeological sites are often dismissed as a culturally symbolic representation that cannot be objectively or scientifically analyzed or interpreted adequately. Such dismissals are detrimental to understanding all aspects of a given culture. Although uninformed interpretations of rock art panels are counterproductive, systematic recording and the testing of different hypotheses is a valid way to begin to better understand the possible range of social functions of rock art. This research examines whether indigenous women's fertility is represented in rock art depictions, known as cupules and groove marks, in the archaeological record. Cupules are defined as a boulder or …